Lower Windsor snakebite not venomous

Northern copperheads are easy to identify by their triangular heads and catlike pupils. They are the most common venomous snake in Pennsylvania, but are shy and non-aggressive, according to the state Fish & Boat Commission.
(Photo courtesy of the Pa. Fish & Boat Commission)

A snake that bit a Lower Windsor Township man over the weekend wasn't venomous.

Lower Windsor Township Police Chief Tim Caldwell said officers were called to a home on Haven Drive in the Log Cabin Mobile Home Park about 7:20 p.m. Saturday, where they found a 20-year-old man who said he'd been bitten by a copperhead.

The man had visible bite marks on his leg and a large amount of bruising, the chief said. He told officers he found a shed snakeskin inside a rear room of his trailer and was moving items around looking for snakes. He was bitten while searching the room, Caldwell said.

Officers didn't know whether the snake was venomous or not, the chief said, and his department isn't set up to deal with snakes. An ambulance took the man to York Hospital, Caldwell said.

He was treated and released, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Skin found: On Sunday, a waterways conservation officer with the state Fish & Boat Commission went to the man's home with township officers to investigate, said Eric Levis, the commission's press secretary.

They found the shed snakeskin and determined it came from a non-venomous snake, Levis said.

Northern copperheads, like timber rattlesnakes, have pronounced triangular-shaped heads to accommodate venom glands, and their pupils are catlike, rather than round.

Other local snakes that may appear similar to copperheads, including the eastern milk snake and northern water snake, have round pupils and heads that aren't triangular.